Storing data based on device location

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for storing data based on device location. The systems and methods include operations for: determining, by a messaging application server, a geographical location associated with a client device; identifying, by the messaging application server, a plurality of storage devices located in different geographical regions; computing, by the messaging application server, a plurality of distances between the geographical location associated the client device and the geographical regions of the plurality of storage devices; selecting, by the messaging application server based on the computed plurality of distances, a first storage device of the plurality of storage device that is in a geographical region that is closest to the geographical location associated with the client device; and storing, by the messaging application server on the first storage device, data associated with a messaging application implemented on the client device.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/810,521, filed Mar. 5, 2020, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to the technical field ofsocial networks. In particular, the present embodiments are generallydirected to managing data storage.

BACKGROUND

As the popularity of social networking grows, social networks areexpanding their capabilities. To improve ease of use, social networksare integrating more and more functions such that a user may accomplishmany or even most of their computer-based tasks within the socialnetwork itself. One vision of social networks is that they eventuallybecome a virtual operating system, from which a user seldom finds a needto remove themselves.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsmay describe similar components in different views. To easily identifythe discussion of any particular element or act, the most significantdigit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number inwhich that element is first introduced. Some embodiments are illustratedby way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network,according to example embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating data which may be stored inthe database of a messaging server system, according to exampleembodiments.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a messagegenerated by a messaging client application for communication, accordingto example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example message storage system,according to example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of the messagestorage system, according to example embodiments.

FIGS. 6 and 7 shows illustrative inputs and outputs of the messagestorage system, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a representative softwarearchitecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine able toread instructions from a machine-readable medium (e.g., amachine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, according to example embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program products thatembody illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of variousembodiments. It will be evident, however, to those skilled in the art,that embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Ingeneral, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, andtechniques are not necessarily shown in detail.

Often, users consume media content, and specifically videos, on theirmobile device. Such media content is typically exchanged in chatsessions between users. Sometimes users log on and log off a server thatmaintains the contents of the chat sessions. In order to ensure that thelatest chat messages, which were exchanged in the chat session while theuser device has been disconnected from the server, are presented to theuser, a user device synchronizes with the server. Typically, the datacenter that is used to storage the messages for the users' chat sessionsis located in one or more geographical locations. Users who are locatedfar away from that data center, such as in another state or country,experience large latencies when they try to retrieve the data with theirdevices. Also, transferring such content between a data center and userdevices that are in various geographical locations, far away from eachother, consumes a great deal of processing resources and networkbandwidth, which makes data transfer sessions operate inefficiently. Inaddition, receiving such content from a data center that is far awayfrom the user can take a long time, which further delays presenting thelatest chat messages to the user and can end up frustrating the users.

The disclosed embodiments improve the efficiency of using the electronicdevice by providing a system that efficiently stores content on astorage device based on a location of a user device (client device).According to the disclosed system, multiple storage devices aredistributed throughout the world, such as in multiple geographicallocations. Messaging client application data, such as a conversationhistory, chat messages, profile information, and the like, is stored andmaintained in a single storage device. The storage device in which suchdata is stored is selected based on a current or predicted location of auser device. Specifically, the disclosed embodiments, compute aplurality of distances between a geographical location associated theuser device and the geographical regions of the plurality of storagedevices. Based on the computed plurality of distances, a first storagedevice of the plurality of storage device that is in a geographicalregion that is closest to the geographical location associated with theuser device is selected and the data associated with the messagingapplication implemented on the user device is stored in the selectedstorage location.

In this way, when the given user desires to retrieve content for themessaging application implemented on the user device, the user device ofthe given user receives the content, such as conversation history,messages, images, videos, profile information, and the like, faster andmore efficiently and with a lower amount of latency. Namely, rather thanthe given user experiencing large latencies by receiving messages from astorage device, which is geographically far from the given user devicebecause it is in a different geographical location, the user device canreceive such messages from a closer storage device. This increases theefficiencies of the electronic device by reducing processing times andnetwork bandwidth needed to accomplish a task and by reducing costsassociated with moving data over large distances between storage devicesand between storage devices and user devices.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system 100 forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network106. The messaging system 100 includes multiple client devices 102, eachof which hosts a number of applications, including a messaging clientapplication 104 and a third-party application 105. Each messaging clientapplication 104 is communicatively coupled to other instances of themessaging client application 104, the third-party application 105, and amessaging server system 108 via a network 106 (e.g., the Internet).

Accordingly, each messaging client application 104 and third-partyapplication 105 is able to communicate and exchange data with anothermessaging client application 104 and third-party application(s) 105 andwith the messaging server system 108 via the network 106. The dataexchanged between messaging client applications 104, third-partyapplications 105, and the messaging server system 108 includes functions(e.g., commands to invoke functions) and payload data (e.g., text,audio, video, or other multimedia data). Any disclosed communicationsbetween the messaging client application 104 and the third-partyapplication(s) 105 can be transmitted directly from the messaging clientapplication 104 to the third-party application(s) 105 or indirectly(e.g., via one or more servers) from the messaging client application104 to the third-party application(s) 105.

The third-party application(s) 105 and the messaging client application104 are applications that include a set of functions that allow theclient device 102 to access a message storage system 124. Thethird-party application 105 is an application that is separate anddistinct from the messaging client application 104. The third-partyapplication(s) 105 are downloaded and installed by the client device 102separately from the messaging client application 104. In someimplementations, the third-party application(s) 105 are downloaded andinstalled by the client device 102 before or after the messaging clientapplication 104 is downloaded and installed. The third-party application105 is an application that is provided by an entity or organization thatis different from the entity or organization that provides the messagingclient application 104. The third-party application 105 is anapplication that can be accessed by a client device 102 using separatelogin credentials than the messaging client application 104. Namely, thethird-party application 105 can maintain a first user account and themessaging client application 104 can maintain a second user account. Forexample, the third-party application 105 can be a social networkingapplication, a dating application, a ride or car sharing application, ashopping application, a trading application, a gaming application, anoperating system application (e.g., a push notification application), oran imaging application.

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 106 to a particular messaging client application 104. Whilecertain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein asbeing performed by either a messaging client application 104 or by themessaging server system 108, it will be appreciated that the location ofcertain functionality either within the messaging client application 104or the messaging server system 108 is a design choice. For example, itmay be technically preferable to initially deploy certain technology andfunctionality within the messaging server system 108, but to latermigrate this technology and functionality to the messaging clientapplication 104 where a client device 102 has a sufficient processingcapacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client application 104. Suchoperations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, andprocessing data generated by the messaging client application 104. Thisdata may include message content, client device information, geolocationinformation, media annotation and overlays, virtual objects, messagecontent persistence conditions, social network information, and liveevent information, as examples. Data exchanges within the messagingsystem 100 are invoked and controlled through functions available viauser interfaces (UIs) of the messaging client application 104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, an APIserver 110 is coupled to, and provides a programmatic interface to, anapplication server 112. The application server 112 is communicativelycoupled to a database server 118, which facilitates access to a database120 in which is stored data associated with messages processed by theapplication server 112.

Dealing specifically with the API server 110, this server 110 receivesand transmits message data (e.g., commands and message payloads) betweenthe client device 102 and the application server 112. Specifically, theAPI server 110 provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines andprotocols) that can be called or queried by the messaging clientapplication 104 and the third-party application 105 in order to invokefunctionality of the application server 112. The API server 110 exposesvarious functions supported by the application server 112, includingaccount registration; login functionality; the sending of messages, viathe application server 112, from a particular messaging clientapplication 104 to another messaging client application 104 orthird-party application 105; the sending of media files (e.g., images orvideo) from a messaging client application 104 to the messaging serverapplication 114, and for possible access by another messaging clientapplication 104 or third-party application 105; the setting of acollection of media data; the retrieval of such collections; theretrieval of a list of friends of a user of a client device 102; theretrieval of messages and content; the adding and deleting of friends toa social graph; the location of friends within a social graph; access touser conversation data; access to avatar information stored on messagingserver system 108; and opening an application event (e.g., relating tothe messaging client application 104).

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a messaging server application 114, an imageprocessing system 116, a social network system 122, and the messagestorage system 124. The messaging server application 114 implements anumber of message processing technologies and functions, particularlyrelated to the aggregation and other processing of content (e.g.,textual and multimedia content) included in messages received frommultiple instances of the messaging client application 104. As will bedescribed in further detail, the text and media content from multiplesources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g., calledstories or galleries). These collections are then made available, by themessaging server application 114, to the messaging client application104. Other processor- and memory-intensive processing of data may alsobe performed server-side by the messaging server application 114, inview of the hardware requirements for such processing.

The application server 112 also includes an image processing system 116that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to images or video received within the payload ofa message at the messaging server application 114. A portion of theimage processing system 116 may also be implemented by the messagestorage system 124.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions and services and makes these functions and services availableto the messaging server application 114. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph within the database120. Examples of functions and services supported by the social networksystem 122 include the identification of other users of the messagingsystem 100 with which a particular user has relationships or is“following” and also the identification of other entities and interestsof a particular user. Such other users may be referred to as the user'sfriends. Social network system 122 may access location informationassociated with each of the user's friends to determine where they liveor are currently located geographically. Social network system 122 maymaintain a location profile for each of the user's friends indicatingthe geographical location where the user's friends live.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with messages processed by the messaging serverapplication 114. Database 120 may be a third-party database. Forexample, the application server 112 may be associated with a firstentity, and the database 120 or a portion of the database 120 may beassociated with and hosted by a second, different entity. In someimplementations, database 120 stores user data that the first entitycollects about various each of the users of a service provided by thefirst entity. For example, the user data includes user names, passwords,addresses, friends, activity information, preferences, videos or contentconsumed by the user, and so forth.

The message storage system 124 manages storage and transfer of messagesexchanged in a communication session, conversations in which users areengaged, profile information, or any combination thereof including anyother data that is used on the messaging client application 104. Forexample, the message storage system 124 establishes a communicationsession between a plurality of users (e.g., a chat session in whichmultiple chat messages are exchanged). The messaging client application104 implemented on the client device 102 communicates with the messagestorage system 124 to receive messages transmitted as part of thecommunication session. Specifically, messages are sent from one user toanother via the message storage system 124. The message storage system124 keeps track of all the messages that are exchanged and sends updatesto client device 102 that are connected to the message storage system124. In some cases, the messages include messages exchanged betweenusers. In some cases, the messages may be received from third-partyapplications and are directed to one or more users. The message storagesystem 124 determines a current or future location of a client device102 and manages the storage of messaging application data for themessaging client application 104 implemented on the client device 102based on the current or future location. In particular, the messagestorage system 124 selects a storage device from a collection of storagedevices that is closest to the client device 102 in which to store themessaging application data for the client device 102.

Messaging system 100 includes a plurality of storage devices 130. Eachstorage devices 131 of the plurality of storage devices 130 mayimplement some or all of the functionality of application server 112.Each storage device 131 may be located in a different geographicallocation and is configured to store messaging application data forclient devices 102. In some implementations, messaging application datais not duplicated across storage devices and is exclusively stored inone selected storage device. This enhances the level of data privacy andsecurity for users of the messaging client application 104. Once a givenstorage device 131 is selected to store messaging application data, allof the messaging application data for a given user is stored in theselected storage device 131. For example, a first storage devices 131may be located in a first geographical region (e.g., a first state inthe United States of America). The first storage devices 131 isconfigured to store data for user devices which are currently located inthe first geographical region (e.g., the first state in the UnitedStates of America) or which are predicted to be located in the firstgeographical region at a future time. A second storage devices 131 maybe located in a second geographical region (e.g., a second state in theUnited States of America). The second storage devices 131 is configuredto store data for user devices which are currently located or will belocated in the second geographical region.

In some embodiments, a first one of the storage devices 130 isconfigured to forward or receive messages to/from another one of thestorage devices 130 based on a determination that a geographicallocation of a client device 102 for which the first storage device 130is storing data has changed or will be changed in the future. As anexample, a client device 102 of a user (e.g., via an application on thedevice) may be located in a first geographical region. In response todetermining that the client device 102 is located in the firstgeographical region, the message storage system 124 searches for andidentifies the first storage device 131 that is closest in distance andproximity to the current location of the client device 102. The messagestorage system 124 automatically stores any content received by theclient device 102 or directed to the client device 102 in the selectedfirst storage device 131. For example, the user of the client device 102updates profile information for the messaging client application 104implemented on the client device 102. Such profile information is thenstored in a profile for the user maintained by the first storage device131. As another example, a second user may send a message to the firstuser. Such a message is routed to and stored in the first storage device131 for subsequent retrieval by the client device 102. In some cases,all conversation history and content of the messaging client application104 implemented by the client device 102 is stored on the first storagedevice 131.

In some cases, the message storage system 124 may periodically orcontinuously receive location information from the client device 102 ofthe user. The message storage system 124 may determine the location ofthe user based on the received location information. In some cases, themessage storage system 124 predicts that the client device 102 istraveling to another location. For example, the message storage system124 may determine that the client device 102 is traveling to anotherstate or country based on a current motion or speed of the client device102, an altitude of the client device 102, a conversation history of theclient device 102, a path of the client device 102, or any combinationthereof. Specifically, the message storage system 124 may determine thatthe user has planned a vacation to Paris by processing textual or imagesexchanged by the user in a conversation with another user. As anotherexample, the message storage system 124 processes payment information ortickets purchased by the user to determine that a trip is planned by theuser to another geographical region (e.g., Paris). The message storagesystem 124 may determine that the current time matches the planned timefor the trip and that, based on the speed and altitude of the clientdevice 102, that the client device is currently on a plane traveling tothe destination (e.g., Paris). In response, the message storage system124 predicts that the client device 102 will be at the destination in ata future time and responsively and automatically transfers the messagingapplication data for the client device 102 from the first storage device131 to a second storage device 131 that is geographically located in thedestination. In some cases, the transfer is performed while the user ofthe client device 102 is traveling to the destination (e.g., is on theplane) so that the data is readily available to be received by theclient device 102 from the second storage device 131 when the user ofthe client device 102 arrives at the destination.

In some cases, the message storage system 124 presents a prompt ornotification to the user to confirm that the user is travelling or isplanning to travel to the predicted destination. The message storagesystem 124 conditionally performs the transfer to the second storagedevice 131 from the first storage device 131 based on an affirmativeresponse received from the user to the prompt or notification indicatingthat the user is planning to travel to the predicted destination. Theprompt or notification may request that the user input the length oftime the user intends to spend at the destination. The message storagesystem 124 conditionally performs the transfer of the data from thefirst to the second storage device 131 if the length of time input bythe user (or predicted by the message storage system 124) exceeds aspecified threshold (e.g., two hours).

In some cases, the message storage system 124 generates a movement orgeographical trajectory profile for the user of the client device 102.The trajectory profile indicates a history of geographical positions ofthe client device 102 and how long the client device 102 remained ateach of the different geographical positions. Based on the trajectoryprofile, the message storage system 124 predictively and proactivelymoves or transfers messaging application data for the client device 102from one storage device 131 to another storage device 131. In this way,the data for the client device 102 is available to be received by theclient device 102 from the closest storage device 131 to the clientdevice 102. In some cases, the data is only moved from a first storagedevice 131 to a second storage device 131 if the trajectory profileindicates that the client device 102 remained at the geographical regioncorresponding to the second storage device 131 for more than a thresholdamount of time (e.g., more than 2 hours). If the trajectory profileindicates that the client device 102 remained or is predicted to remainat the next geographical location for less than the threshold amount oftime, the data is not moved to the second storage device 131.

In some embodiments, the message storage system 124 stores the data fora given client device 102 in a storage device 131 based on a location ofa virtual private network (VPN) server rather than the location of thegiven client device 102. Specifically, the message storage system 124may determine that the client device 102 connects to the messagingapplication server 112 via a VPN connection. In such cases, the messagestorage system 124 determines a location of the VPN server for the VPNconnection and identifies a storage device 131 from the storage devices130 that is closest in proximity and distance to the VPN server. In someimplementations, the message storage system 124 determines that theclient device 102 connects to the message storage system 124 via a VPNconnection by determining that the current location reported by themessaging client application 104 implemented by the client device 102(or determined by triangulating a position of the client device 102)does not match the location associated with a source address in one ormore packets of information exchanged with the client device 102.

In some cases, the message storage system 124 analyzes a source addressspecified in one or more packets of information (e.g., IP packets)received from the messaging application 104 implemented on the clientdevice 102. The message storage system 124 compares the source addressto a list of source addresses that are associated with VPN servers. Ifthe message storage system 124 determines that the source addressmatches one of the sources addresses in the list, the message storagesystem 124 determines that the client device 102 is connecting to theserver 112 through a VPN server. In this case, the message storagesystem 124 stores the data for the client device 102 on a storage device131 that is closest to the VPN server rather than the storage device 131that is closest to the geographical location of the client device 102.

In some cases, the data for the client device 102 may initially bestored on a first storage device 131 that is in a first geographicalregion closest to the geographical location of the client device 102. Atsome time in the future, the message storage system 124 determines thatthe client device 102 connected to the server 112 via a VPN server morethan a threshold number of times (e.g., more than 20 times) in a giveninterval (e.g., one week). In response, the message storage system 124identifies the geographical location of the VPN server used by theclient device 102 to connect to the server 112. The message storagesystem 124 then identifies a second storage device 131 that is in ageographical region closer to the geographical location of the VPNserver than the geographical region of the first storage device 131 inwhich the data for the client device 102 is currently stored. Themessage storage system 124 then initiates transfer of the data for theclient device 102 from the first storage device 131 to the secondstorage device 131.

In some embodiments, the message storage system 124 determines that theclient device 102 connects to the server 112 directly during a first setof periods and connects to the server 112 indirectly via the VPN serverduring a second set of periods. In such cases, the message storagesystem 124 maintains storage of the data for the client device 102 on afirst storage device 131 that is located in a first geographical regionclosest to the geographical position of the client device 102 during thefirst set of periods. Then, the message storage system 124 transfers thedata from the first storage device 131 to a second storage device 131that is in a second geographical region that is closest to thegeographical location of the VPN server during the second set ofperiods. The message storage system 124 continues moving the databetween the first and second storage devices 131 according to thepatterns of connection or locations of the client device 102 during thefirst and second sets of periods.

In some embodiments, the message storage system 124 selectivelytransfers some but not all of the data from a first storage device 131to a second storage device 131. Specifically, the message storage system124 may determine that a first portion of the data that is stored on thefirst storage device 131 is transient data (e.g., data that willautomatically be deleted in a given period of time, such as 24 hours)and that a second remaining portion of the data is persistent. Themessage storage system 124 may determine a need to transfer the datafrom the first storage device 131 to the second storage device 131(e.g., because the client device for which the data is stored ispredicted to travel to another destination). In this case, the messagestorage system 124 transfers all of the data except the first portion ofthe data that is determined to be transient. In particular, the messagestorage system 124 transfers the second portion of data but not thefirst portion of the data from the first storage device 131 to thesecond storage device 131. This reduces the amount of data that isexchanged and reduces the amount of bandwidth that is consumed at leastby not transferring the first portion of the data.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram 200 illustrating data, which may be storedin the database 120 of the messaging server system 108, according tocertain example embodiments. While the content of the database 120 isshown to comprise a number of tables, it will be appreciated that thedata could be stored in other types of data structures (e.g., as anobject-oriented database).

The database 120 includes message data stored within a message table214. An entity table 202 stores entity data, including an entity graph204. Entities for which records are maintained within the entity table202 may include individuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects,places, events, and so forth. Regardless of type, any entity regardingwhich the messaging server system 108 stores data may be a recognizedentity. Each entity is provided with a unique identifier, as well as anentity type identifier (not shown).

The entity graph 204 stores information regarding relationships andassociations between entities. Such relationships may be social,professional (e.g., work at a common corporation or organization),interest-based, or activity-based, merely for example.

Message table 214 may store a collection of conversations between a userand one or more friends or entities. Message table 214 may includevarious attributes of each conversation, such as the list ofparticipants, the size of the conversation (e.g., number of users and/ornumber of messages), the chat color of the conversation, a uniqueidentifier for the conversation, and any other conversation relatedfeature(s).

The database 120 also stores annotation data, in the example form offilters, in an annotation table 212. Database 120 also stores annotatedcontent received in the annotation table 212. Filters for which data isstored within the annotation table 212 are associated with and appliedto videos (for which data is stored in a video table 210) and/or images(for which data is stored in an image table 208). Filters, in oneexample, are overlays that are displayed as overlaid on an image orvideo during presentation to a recipient user. Filters may be of varioustypes, including user-selected filters from a gallery of filterspresented to a sending user by the messaging client application 104 whenthe sending user is composing a message. Other types of filters includegeolocation filters (also known as geo-filters), which may be presentedto a sending user based on geographic location. For example, geolocationfilters specific to a neighborhood or special location may be presentedwithin a UI by the messaging client application 104, based ongeolocation information determined by a Global Positioning System (GPS)unit of the client device 102. Another type of filter is a data filter,which may be selectively presented to a sending user by the messagingclient application 104, based on other inputs or information gathered bythe client device 102 during the message creation process. Examples ofdata filters include current temperature at a specific location, acurrent speed at which a sending user is traveling, battery life for aclient device 102, or the current time.

Other annotation data that may be stored within the image table 208 isso-called “lens” data. A “lens” may be a real-time special effect andsound that may be added to an image or a video.

As mentioned above, the video table 210 stores video data which, in oneembodiment, is associated with messages for which records are maintainedwithin the message table 214. Similarly, the image table 208 storesimage data associated with messages for which message data is stored inthe entity table 202. The entity table 202 may associate variousannotations from the annotation table 212 with various images and videosstored in the image table 208 and the video table 210.

A story table 206 stores data regarding collections of messages andassociated image, video, or audio data, which are compiled into acollection (e.g., a story or a gallery). The creation of a particularcollection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g., each user forwhich a record is maintained in the entity table 202). A user may createa “personal story” in the form of a collection of content that has beencreated and sent/broadcast by that user. To this end, the UI of themessaging client application 104 may include an icon that isuser-selectable to enable a sending user to add specific content to hisor her personal story.

A collection may also constitute a “live story,” which is a collectionof content from multiple users that is created manually, automatically,or using a combination of manual and automatic techniques. For example,a “live story” may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted contentfrom various locations and events. Users whose client devices 102 havelocation services enabled and are at a common location event at aparticular time may, for example, be presented with an option, via a UIof the messaging client application 104, to contribute content to aparticular live story. The live story may be identified to the user bythe messaging client application 104 based on his or her location. Theend result is a “live story” told from a community perspective.

A further type of content collection is known as a “location story,”which enables a user whose client device 102 is located within aspecific geographic location (e.g., on a college or university campus)to contribute to a particular collection. In some embodiments, acontribution to a location story may require a second degree ofauthentication to verify that the end user belongs to a specificorganization or other entity (e.g., is a student on the universitycampus).

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message 300,according to some embodiments, generated by a messaging clientapplication 104 for communication to a further messaging clientapplication 104 or the messaging server application 114. The content ofa particular message 300 is used to populate the message table 214stored within the database 120, accessible by the messaging serverapplication 114. Similarly, the content of a message 300 is stored inmemory as “in-transit” or “in-flight” data of the client device 102 orthe application server 112. The message 300 is shown to include thefollowing components:

-   -   A message identifier 302: a unique identifier that identifies        the message 300.    -   A message text payload 304: text, to be generated by a user via        a UI of the client device 102 and that is included in the        message 300.    -   A message image payload 306: image data, captured by a camera        component of a client device 102 or retrieved from memory of a        client device 102, and that is included in the message 300.    -   A message video payload 308: video data, captured by a camera        component or retrieved from a memory component of the client        device 102 and that is included in the message 300.    -   A message audio payload 310: audio data, captured by a        microphone or retrieved from the memory component of the client        device 102, and that is included in the message 300.    -   Message annotations 312: annotation data (e.g., filters,        stickers, or other enhancements) that represents annotations to        be applied to message image payload 306, message video payload        308, or message audio payload 310 of the message 300.    -   A message duration parameter 314: parameter value indicating, in        seconds, the amount of time for which content of the message        (e.g., the message image payload 306, message video payload 308,        message audio payload 310) is to be presented or made accessible        to a user via the messaging client application 104.    -   A message geolocation parameter 316: geolocation data (e.g.,        latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates) associated with the        content payload of the message. Multiple message geolocation        parameter 316 values may be included in the payload, with each        of these parameter values being associated with respect to        content items included in the content (e.g., a specific image        within the message image payload 306, or a specific video in the        message video payload 308).    -   A message story identifier 318: identifier value identifying one        or more content collections (e.g., “stories”) with which a        particular content item in the message image payload 306 of the        message 300 is associated. For example, multiple images within        the message image payload 306 may each be associated with        multiple content collections using identifier values.    -   A message tag 320: each message 300 may be tagged with multiple        tags, each of which is indicative of the subject matter of        content included in the message payload. For example, where a        particular image included in the message image payload 306        depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value may be included        within the message tag 320 that is indicative of the relevant        animal. Tag values may be generated manually, based on user        input, or may be automatically generated using, for example,        image recognition.    -   A message sender identifier 322: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 102 on        which the message 300 was generated and from which the message        300 was sent.    -   A message receiver identifier 324: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of user(s) of the client device 102 to        which the message 300 is addressed. In the case of a        conversation between multiple users, the identifier may indicate        each user involved in the conversation.

The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of message 300 maybe pointers to locations in tables within which content data values arestored. For example, an image value in the message image payload 306 maybe a pointer to (or address of) a location within an image table 208.Similarly, values within the message video payload 308 may point to datastored within a video table 210, values stored within the messageannotations 312 may point to data stored in an annotation table 212,values stored within the message story identifier 318 may point to datastored in a story table 206, and values stored within the message senderidentifier 322 and the message receiver identifier 324 may point to userrecords stored within an entity table 202.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example message storage system 124,according to example embodiments. Message storage system 124 includes acommunication session module 414, a storage device selection module 416,and a message transmission module 418. The communication session module414 enables users to engage in a communication session to exchangemessages with each other. In some cases, the communication sessionincludes a group of three or more users in which case any message sentby one user is viewable by the other two users in the group. In somecases, the communication session includes only two users where one usersends messages to another user and vice versa.

After initiating a communication session using the communication sessionmodule 414, messages are transferred between users of the communicationsession using the communication session module 414. The communicationsession module 414 stores the messages along with various informationindicating the recipient, the communication session identifier, asequence number, an identifier of the sender, and a timestamprepresenting when the message was received in a storage device 131selected by the storage device selection module 416.

The communication session module 414 communicates with the storagedevice selection module 416 to identify a geographical region associatedwith the recipient. The storage device selection module 416 maydetermine that the user is associated with a first geographical regionand provide the identification of the first geographical region to thecommunication session module 414. The storage device selection module416 searches a list of storage devices 130 and their respectivegeographical regions for a storage device 131 that is closest inproximity and distance to the first geographical region. Thecommunication session module 414 stores messages directed to therecipient and information received from the recipient in the firststorage device 131.

The storage device selection module 416 may dynamically track a positionor geographical location of a client device 102. The storage deviceselection module 416 generates a movement or location vector for theclient device 102. The storage device selection module 416 transfersdata (e.g., conversation history or messages received from or directedto the client device 102) from a first storage device 131 to a secondstorage device 131 based on the movement or location vector.

In some cases, the storage device selection module 416 predictivelymoves the data by predicting where the client device 102 will be at afuture time and for how long the client device 102 will be at thatlocation. For example, the storage device selection module 416determines that the client device 102 will move from a first position toa second position (e.g., a destination) that is closer to a geographicallocation of a second storage device 131. The storage device selectionmodule 416 predicts that the client device 102 will remain at the secondposition for a threshold amount of time (e.g., more than 2 hours) and inresponse, the storage device selection module 416 moves the data storedfor the client device 102 from the first storage device 131 to thesecond storage device 131. In moving the data, the data is deleted fromthe first storage device 131 and added to the second storage device 131.The storage device selection module 416 may store an identifier of thesecond storage device 131 in a profile or in association with the clientdevice 102.

In some cases, the storage device selection module 416 selects storagedevice 131 in which to store data for a client device 102 based on a VPNserver that the client device 102 uses to connect to server 112. Namely,rather than selecting a storage device 131 that is in a geographicalregion that is closest to the geographical position of the client device102, the storage device selection module 416 selects a storage device131 that is in a geographical region that is closest to the geographicalposition of the VPN server through which the client device 102 connectsto the server 112. In some cases, the storage device selection module416 dynamically changes and moves data from one storage device toanother as a function of a position of the client device 102 or afunction of whether the client device 102 connects to the server 112 viaa VPN server.

In some cases, the storage device selection module 416 determines that agiven client device 102 has not yet been assigned a storage device 131(e.g., because the client device 102 is a newly registered user with theserver 112). In such circumstances, the storage device selection module416 automatically selects a pre-designated default storage device 131 orselects a random storage device 131 in which to store data for theclient device 102. After a specified interval (e.g., after one week) ofmonitoring geographical locations of the client device 102 anddeveloping a trajectory vector for the client device 102, the storagedevice selection module 416 identifies a new storage device 131 in whichto store data for the client device 102 that is closest in distance tothe monitored geographical locations of the client device 102. Thestorage device selection module 416 causes the data stored in thepre-designated default storage device 131 to be moved to the new storagedevice 131 based on the monitored geographical locations of the clientdevice 102.

The message transmission module 418 receives a request from the clientdevice 102 to obtain data (e.g., messaging client application 104 data).The message transmission module 418 may access a storage deviceidentifier that is stored in association with the client device 102. Thestorage device identifier may identify the specific storage device 131from the plurality of storage devices 130 in which the data for theclient device 102 is stored. Specifically, the client device 102communicates with a centralized storage device in server 112 to identifyitself to the centralized storage device. The client device 102 mayprovide to the message transmission module 418 an identifier of theclient device 102 and may receive from the message transmission module418 an identifier of the storage device 131 in which data for the clientdevice 102 is stored. The message transmission module 418 then retrievesthe identified storage device 131 to obtain data for the client device102 and provide the data to the client device 102. In some cases, themessage transmission module 418 provides the identifier or address ofthe storage device 131 associated with the client device 102 and theclient device 102 directly communicates with the identified storagedevice 131 to obtain messaging application data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of the messagestorage system 124 in performing process 500, according to exampleembodiments. The process 500 may be embodied in computer-readableinstructions for execution by one or more processors such that theoperations of the process 500 may be performed in part or in whole bythe functional components of the messaging server system 108, clientdevice 102, and/or third-party application 105; accordingly, the process500 is described below by way of example with reference thereto.However, in other embodiments, at least some of the operations of theprocess 500 may be deployed on various other hardware configurations.The process 500 is therefore not intended to be limited to the messagingserver system 108 and can be implemented in whole, or in part, by anyother component. Some or all of the operations of process 500 can be inparallel, out of order, or entirely omitted.

At operation 501, a computing device (e.g., message storage system 124)determines a geographical location associated with a client device. Forexample, the message storage system 124 obtains a geographical positionof the client device 102, a future geographical position of the clientdevice 102, or a geographical position of a VPN server through which theclient device 102 connects with the server 112.

At operation 502, the computing device identifies a plurality of storagedevices located in different geographical regions. For example, themessage storage system 124 obtains a list of storage devices 130 andretrieves the geographical regions associated with each of the storagedevices 130.

At operation 503, the computing device computes a plurality of distancesbetween the geographical location associated the client device and thegeographical regions of the plurality of storage devices. For example,the message storage system 124 measures a difference between thegeographical region of each of the storage devices 130 and thedetermined geographical position of the client device 102, the futuregeographical position of the client device 102, or the geographicalposition of the VPN server through which the client device 102 connectswith the server 112.

At operation 504, the computing device selects, based on the computedplurality of distances, a first storage device of the plurality ofstorage device that is in a geographical region that is closest to thegeographical location associated with the client device. For example,the message storage system 124 identifies the shortest or smallest ofthe computed differences and selects the storage device 131 that isassociated with the geographical region for which the computeddifference was the smallest. This is the storage device 131 that isclosest to the geographical location associated with the client device102. Namely, this is the storage device 131 that is in a geographicalregion that is closest to the geographical position of the client device102, the future geographical position of the client device 102, or thegeographical position of the VPN server through which the client device102 connects with the server 112.

At operation 505 the computing device stores, on the first storagedevice, data associated with a messaging application implemented on theclient device. For example, the message storage system 124 stores aconversation history, profile information, messages sent to or receivedfrom the client device 102, or the like in the storage device 131 thatis determined to be closest to the geographical position of the clientdevice 102, the future geographical position of the client device 102,or the geographical position of the VPN server through which the clientdevice 102 connects with the server 112.

FIG. 6 illustrates a graphical user interface, according to exampleembodiments. The message storage system 124 may cause a graphical userinterface to be presented on a messaging client application 104implemented on the client device 102. The graphical user interfaceincludes a display of messages that are part of a communication sessionbetween multiple users (e.g., John, Mark and Jennifer). The graphicaluser interface is presented to a given user (e.g., Jennifer). In somecases, once the given user logs in to retrieve the messages that arepart of the communication session (e.g., at 9:41 AM), the messagestorage system 124 provides messages to the client device 102 from thestorage device 131 associated with the client device 102 of the givenuser. The message storage system 124 determines the current location ofthe client device 102 and stores the messages in a first storage device131 that is in a first geographical region that is closest to thecurrent location of the client device 102 than other geographicalregions of other storage devices 130.

In some cases, the message storage system 124 predicts, based onmovement of the client device 102, a trajectory of the client device102, a current altitude, conversation history, and so forth that theuser of the client device 102 is engaged in a trip to a destination thatis in a second geographical region different from the first geographicalregion. In response, a notification 610 is presented to the given userin the graphical user interface indicating that the message storagesystem 124 predicts that the user is traveling to a destination (e.g.,Paris) away from the user's current location (e.g., New York). Thenotification 610 may request confirmation from the user that the user isactually taking this trip. The notification 610 may also request thatthe user confirm that the user plans to spend more than a specifiedthreshold (e.g., one hour) at the destination.

In response to receiving confirmation from the user that the user istaking this trip and is planning to stay for longer than the specifiedthreshold, the message storage system 124 automatically moves the datafor the user from the first storage device 131 to a second storagedevice 131 that is in a second geographical region closer to thedestination than the geographical region of the first storage device131. In response to receiving input from the user indicating that theuser is not taking this trip or is not planning to stay for longer thanthe specified threshold, the message storage system 124 retains the datafor the user on the first storage device 131 and prevents moving thedata to the second storage device 131. In some cases, the messagestorage system 124 performs the movement of the data while the user isin transit (e.g., while the client device 102 is determined to be movingfaster than a specified speed, such as an airplane speed, or isdetermined to be at an altitude higher than a threshold) so that thedata is readily available on the second storage device 131 when the userarrives at the destination.

FIG. 7 illustrates a graphical user interface 710 for receiving newmessages, according to example embodiments. The message storage system124 may cause a graphical user interface 710 to be presented on amessaging client application 104. The graphical user interface 710includes a display of messages that are part of a communication sessionbetween multiple users (e.g., John, Mark and Jennifer). The graphicaluser interface 710 is presented to a given user 714 (e.g., Jennifer). Insome cases, once the given user 714 logs in to retrieve messages afterarriving at the destination (e.g., Paris), the client device 102 of theuser retrieves the messages that are part of the conversation from thesecond storage device 131 instead of the first storage device 131.

In one example, a notification 720 is presented to the given user 714 inthe graphical user interface 710 indicating that the conversation willbe ready to receive from the local storage device at the destination.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture806, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described. FIG. 8 is a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 806 may execute on hardwaresuch as machine 900 of FIG. 9 that includes, among other things,processors 904, memory 914, and input/output (I/O) components 918. Arepresentative hardware layer 852 is illustrated and can represent, forexample, the machine 900 of FIG. 9 . The representative hardware layer852 includes a processing unit 854 having associated executableinstructions 804. Executable instructions 804 represent the executableinstructions of the software architecture 806, including implementationof the methods, components, and so forth described herein. The hardwarelayer 852 also includes memory and/or storage modules memory/storage856, which also have executable instructions 804. The hardware layer 852may also comprise other hardware 858.

In the example architecture of FIG. 8 , the software architecture 806may be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 806 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 802, libraries 820,frameworks/middleware 818, applications 816, and a presentation layer814. Operationally, the applications 816 and/or other components withinthe layers may invoke API calls 808 through the software stack andreceive messages 812 in response to the API calls 808. The layersillustrated are representative in nature and not all softwarearchitectures have all layers. For example, some mobile or specialpurpose operating systems may not provide a frameworks/middleware 818,while others may provide such a layer. Other software architectures mayinclude additional or different layers.

The operating system 802 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 802 may include, for example, akernel 822, services 824, and drivers 826. The kernel 822 may act as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 822 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 824 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 826 areresponsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware.For instance, the drivers 826 include display drivers, camera drivers,Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers(e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers, audiodrivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on thehardware configuration.

The libraries 820 provide a common infrastructure that is used by theapplications 816 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries820 provide functionality that allows other software components toperform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with theunderlying operating system 802 functionality (e.g., kernel 822,services 824 and/or drivers 826). The libraries 820 may include systemlibraries 844 (e.g., C standard library) that may provide functions suchas memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions,mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 820 mayinclude API libraries 846 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries tosupport presentation and manipulation of various media format such asMPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphics libraries (e.g., anOpenGL framework that may be used to render two-dimensional andthree-dimensional in a graphic content on a display), database libraries(e.g., SQLite that may provide various relational database functions),web libraries (e.g., WebKit that may provide web browsingfunctionality), and the like. The libraries 820 may also include a widevariety of other libraries 848 to provide many other APIs to theapplications 816 and other software components/modules.

The frameworks/middleware 818 (also sometimes referred to as middleware)provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by theapplications 816 and/or other software components/modules. For example,the frameworks/middleware 818 may provide various graphical userinterface functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware 818 may provide abroad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications816 and/or other software components/modules, some of which may bespecific to a particular operating system 802 or platform.

The applications 816 include built-in applications 838 and/orthird-party applications 840. Examples of representative built-inapplications 838 may include, but are not limited to, a contactsapplication, a browser application, a book reader application, alocation application, a media application, a messaging application,and/or a game application. Third-party applications 840 may include anapplication developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform,and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asIOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Thethird-party applications 840 may invoke the API calls 808 provided bythe mobile operating system (such as operating system 802) to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

The applications 816 may use built-in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 822, services 824, and/or drivers 826), libraries 820, andframeworks/middleware 818 to create UIs to interact with users of thesystem. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systems, interactionswith a user may occur through a presentation layer, such as presentationlayer 814. In these systems, the application/component “logic” can beseparated from the aspects of the application/component that interactwith a user.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 900,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine900 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions910 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 900 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such, theinstructions 910 may be used to implement modules or componentsdescribed herein. The instructions 910 transform the general,non-programmed machine 900 into a particular machine 900 programmed tocarry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 900 operates as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 900 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 900 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 910, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by machine 900. Further, while only a single machine 900 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 910 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 900 may include processors 904, memory/storage 906, and I/Ocomponents 918, which may be configured to communicate with each othersuch as via a bus 902. In an example embodiment, the processors 904(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction setcomputing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC)processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor(DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aradio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or anysuitable combination thereof) may include, for example, a processor 908and a processor 912 that may execute the instructions 910. The term“processor” is intended to include multi-core processors 904 that maycomprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred to as“cores”) that may execute instructions 910 contemporaneously. AlthoughFIG. 9 shows multiple processors 904, the machine 900 may include asingle processor 908 with a single core, a single processor 908 withmultiple cores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors 908,912 with a single core, multiple processors 908, 912 with multiplecores, or any combination thereof.

The memory/storage 906 may include a memory 914, such as a main memory,or other memory storage, and a storage unit 916, both accessible to theprocessors 904 such as via the bus 902. The storage unit 916 and memory914 store the instructions 910 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 910 mayalso reside, completely or partially, within the memory 914, within thestorage unit 916, within at least one of the processors 904 (e.g.,within the processor's cache memory), or any suitable combinationthereof, during execution thereof by the machine 900. Accordingly, thememory 914, the storage unit 916, and the memory of processors 904 areexamples of machine-readable media.

The I/O components 918 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 918 that are included in a particular machine 900 will dependon the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones will likely include a touch input device or other such inputmechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include sucha touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 918may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 9 . The I/Ocomponents 918 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 918 mayinclude output components 926 and input components 928. The outputcomponents 926 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 928 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 918 may includebiometric components 939, motion components 934, environmentalcomponents 936, or position components 938 among a wide array of othercomponents. For example, the biometric components 939 may includecomponents to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 934 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environmental components 936 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 938 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a GPS receiver component),altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters or barometers that detectair pressure from which altitude may be derived), orientation sensorcomponents (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 918 may include communication components 940 operableto couple the machine 900 to a network 937 or devices 929 via coupling924 and coupling 922, respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 940 may include a network interface component or othersuitable device to interface with the network 937. In further examples,communication components 940 may include wired communication components,wireless communication components, cellular communication components,near field communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g.,Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents to provide communication via other modalities. The devices929 may be another machine 900 or any of a wide variety of peripheraldevices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).

Moreover, the communication components 940 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 940 may include radio frequency identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components940, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Glossary

“CARRIER SIGNAL,” in this context, refers to any intangible medium thatis capable of storing, encoding, or carrying transitory ornon-transitory instructions 910 for execution by the machine 900, andincludes digital or analog communications signals or other intangiblemedium to facilitate communication of such instructions 910.Instructions 910 may be transmitted or received over the network 106using a transitory or non-transitory transmission medium via a networkinterface device and using any one of a number of well-known transferprotocols.

“CLIENT DEVICE,” in this context, refers to any machine 900 thatinterfaces to a communications network 106 to obtain resources from oneor more server systems or other client devices 102. A client device 102may be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop,PDAs, smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks, laptops,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any other communicationdevice that a user may use to access a network 106.

“COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK,” in this context, refers to one or moreportions of a network 106 that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, anextranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), awireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of theInternet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), aplain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network,or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network106 or a portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular networkand the coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)connection, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection,or other type of cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, thecoupling may implement any of a variety of types of data transfertechnology, such as Single Carrier Radio Transmission Technology(1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO) technology, General PacketRadio Service (GPRS) technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE) technology, third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including3G, fourth generation wireless (4G) networks, Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA),Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long TermEvolution (LTE) standard, others defined by various standard settingorganizations, other long range protocols, or other data transfertechnology.

“EPHEMERAL MESSAGE,” in this context, refers to a message 300 that isaccessible for a time-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be atext, an image, a video, and the like. The access time for the ephemeralmessage may be set by the message sender. Alternatively, the access timemay be a default setting or a setting specified by the recipient.Regardless of the setting technique, the message 300 is transitory.

“MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM,” in this context, refers to a component,device, or other tangible media able to store instructions 910 and datatemporarily or permanently and may include, but is not limited to,random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flashmemory, optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types ofstorage (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and/orany suitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium”should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers)able to store instructions 910. The term “machine-readable medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media,that is capable of storing instructions 910 (e.g., code) for executionby a machine 900, such that the instructions 910, when executed by oneor more processors 904 of the machine 900, cause the machine 900 toperform any one or more of the methodologies described herein.Accordingly, a “machine-readable medium” refers to a single storageapparatus or device, as well as “cloud-based” storage systems or storagenetworks that include multiple storage apparatus or devices. The term“machine-readable medium” excludes signals per se.

“COMPONENT,” in this context, refers to a device, physical entity, orlogic having boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branchpoints, APIs, or other technologies that provide for the partitioning ormodularization of particular processing or control functions. Componentsmay be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry outa machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardwareunit designed for use with other components and a part of a program thatusually performs a particular function of related functions. Componentsmay constitute either software components (e.g., code embodied on amachine-readable medium) or hardware components. A “hardware component”is a tangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain physical manner. In various exampleembodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computersystem, a client computer system, or a server computer system) or one ormore hardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or agroup of processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an applicationor application portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

A hardware component may also be implemented mechanically,electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, ahardware component may include dedicated circuitry or logic that ispermanently configured to perform certain operations. A hardwarecomponent may be a special-purpose processor, such as afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an ASIC. A hardware componentmay also include programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarilyconfigured by software to perform certain operations. For example, ahardware component may include software executed by a general-purposeprocessor 908 or other programmable processor. Once configured by suchsoftware, hardware components become specific machines (or specificcomponents of a machine 900) uniquely tailored to perform the configuredfunctions and are no longer general-purpose processors 908. It will beappreciated that the decision to implement a hardware componentmechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations. Accordingly, the phrase“hardware component” (or “hardware-implemented component”) should beunderstood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that isphysically constructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), ortemporarily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manneror to perform certain operations described herein. Consideringembodiments in which hardware components are temporarily configured(e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need not beconfigured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example,where a hardware component comprises a general-purpose processor 908configured by software to become a special-purpose processor, thegeneral-purpose processor 908 may be configured as respectivelydifferent special-purpose processors (e.g., comprising differenthardware components) at different times. Software accordingly configuresa particular processor 908 or processors 904, for example, to constitutea particular hardware component at one instance of time and toconstitute a different hardware component at a different instance oftime.

Hardware components can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardwarecomponents may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Wheremultiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications maybe achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. Inembodiments in which multiple hardware components are configured orinstantiated at different times, communications between such hardwarecomponents may be achieved, for example, through the storage andretrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware components have access. For example, one hardware component mayperform an operation and store the output of that operation in a memorydevice to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardwarecomponent may then, at a later time, access the memory device toretrieve and process the stored output.

Hardware components may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors 904 thatare temporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configuredto perform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors 904 may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors904. Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor 908 or processors 904being an example of hardware. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors 904 orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processors904 may also operate to support performance of the relevant operationsin a “cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service”(SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed bya group of computers (as examples of machines 900 including processors904), with these operations being accessible via a network 106 (e.g.,the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API).The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe processors, not only residing within a single machine 900, butdeployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, theprocessors 904 or processor-implemented components may be located in asingle geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, an officeenvironment, or a server farm). In other example embodiments, theprocessors 904 or processor-implemented components may be distributedacross a number of geographic locations.

“PROCESSOR,” in this context, refers to any circuit or virtual circuit(a physical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor908) that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g.,“commands,” “op codes,” “machine code,” etc.) and which producescorresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine 900.A processor 908 may, for example, be a CPU, a RISC processor, a CISCprocessor, a GPU, a DSP, an ASIC, a RFIC or any combination thereof. Aprocessor 908 may further be a multi-core processor having two or moreindependent processors 904 (sometimes referred to as “cores”) that mayexecute instructions 910 contemporaneously.

“TIMESTAMP,” in this context, refers to a sequence of characters orencoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, forexample giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a smallfraction of a second.

Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. These andother changes or modifications are intended to be included within thescope of the present disclosure, as expressed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: identifying, by a messaging application server, a plurality of storage devices located in different geographical regions; computing, by the messaging application server, a plurality of distances comprising a distance between a geographical location associated with a client device and each of the geographical regions of each of the plurality of storage devices; determining that the client device is not associated with any of the plurality of storage devices; automatically selecting a random storage device or default storage device of the plurality of storage device in which to store data; and after a threshold period of time during which a trajectory profile is generated, moving the data from the random storage device or the default storage device to a first storage device that is selected using the trajectory profile.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating the trajectory profile from a history of geographical positions of the client device and duration of time that the client device remained at each of the geographical positions; and based on the trajectory profile, determining the geographical location associated with the client device.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: presenting a notification to a user of the client device to confirm the geographical location; and in response to receiving input that confirms the geographical location, storing, by the messaging application server on the first storage device, data associated with a messaging application implemented on the client device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographical location comprises a predicted future location of the client device, further comprising predicting the future location based on a combination of a current motion, velocity, altitude and path of the client device.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: determining that the client device is currently engaged in travel to a destination, the determination being made based on a determination that the current motion of the client device is greater than a specified speed or that the altitude of the client device is higher than a threshold; and setting the destination as the predicted future location of the client device.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the data is stored on a second storage device of the plurality of storage devices, and further comprising moving the data from the second storage device to the first storage device before the client device reaches the predicted future location.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that a collection of the data comprises transient data that will be automatically deleted in a given period of time; responsive to determining that the collection of the data includes the transient data, moving a first portion of the data from a second storage device to the first storage device, the first portion of the data excluding the transient data; and retaining the transient data on the second storage device.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the client device is not associated with any of the plurality of storage devices; automatically selecting a random storage device or default storage device of the plurality of storage device in which to store the data; and after a threshold period of time during which the trajectory profile is generated, moving the data from the random storage device or the default storage device to the first storage device that has been selected using the trajectory profile.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the client device accesses the messaging application server through a virtual private network (VPN) a specified number of times over a specified interval; and based upon determining that the client device accesses the messaging application server through the VPN the specified number of times over the specified interval, setting as the geographical location associated with the client device a location of a VPN server of the VPN.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining that the client device accesses the messaging application server through the VPN comprises: detecting a mismatch between a current physical location of the client device and location information specified in packets exchanged between the client device and the messaging application server.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining the current physical location based on GPS coordinates received from the messaging application implemented on the client device or based on triangulating the current physical location.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining that the client device accesses the messaging application server through the VPN comprises determining that a source address in a packet of information exchanged with the client device matches an address associated with a VPN provider.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the location of the VPN server of the VPN is set as the geographical location instead of a current physical location of the client device.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the client device is currently engaged in travel to a destination that is a threshold distance away from the geographical location associated with the client device, the determination being made based on movement information indicating that the client device is moving faster than a specified speed or is at an altitude of the client device is higher than a threshold; predicting an amount of time the client device will stay at the destination; and in response to determining that the amount of time is less than a threshold, retaining the data at the first storage device instead of moving the data to a second storage device of the plurality of storage devices, the geographical region of the second storage device being closer to the destination than the geographical region of the first storage device.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that the client device is currently engaged in travel to a destination that is a threshold distance away from the geographical location associated with the client device; predicting an amount of time the client device will stay at the destination; and in response to determining that the amount of time is more than a threshold, moving the data from the first storage device to a second storage device of the plurality of storage devices, the geographical region of the second storage device being closer to the destination than the geographical region of the first storage device.
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: periodically updating the geographical location associated with the client device; and repeating the selecting and storing each time the geographical location is updated.
 17. A system comprising: a processor configured to perform operations comprising: identifying, by a messaging application server, a plurality of storage devices located in different geographical regions; computing, by the messaging application server, a plurality of distances comprising a distance between a geographical location associated with a client device and each of the geographical regions of each of the plurality of storage devices; determining that the client device is not associated with any of the plurality of storage devices; automatically selecting a random storage device or default storage device of the plurality of storage device in which to store data; and after a threshold period of time during which a trajectory profile is generated, moving the data from the random storage device or the default storage device to a first storage device that is selected using the trajectory profile.
 18. The system of claim 17, the operations comprising: generating the trajectory profile comprising a history of geographical positions of the client device and duration of time that the client device remained at each of the geographical positions; and based on the trajectory profile, determining the geographical location associated with the client device.
 19. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that includes instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: identifying, by a messaging application server, a plurality of storage devices located in different geographical regions; computing, by the messaging application server, a plurality of distances comprising a distance between a geographical location associated with a client device and each of the geographical regions of each of the plurality of storage devices; determining that the client device is not associated with any of the plurality of storage devices; automatically selecting a random storage device or default storage device of the plurality of storage device in which to store data; and after a threshold period of time during which a trajectory profile is generated, moving the data from the random storage device or the default storage device to a first storage device that is selected using the trajectory profile.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, the operations comprising: generating the trajectory profile from a history of geographical positions of the client device and duration of time that the client device remained at each of the geographical positions; and based on the trajectory profile, determining the geographical location associated with the client device. 